A DISTURBING INCIDENT

Re: Ooops RCMP drug bust nets tomatoes and dahlias

This was truly a disturbing article. Do tomato growers need to fear
the trauma of a late night police raid because RCMP have trouble
differentiating their plants from cannabis?

It seems that due diligence was not performed in investigating
concerns about cannabis cultivation before subjecting these gardeners
to an extreme intrusion into their right to a peaceful life. Could
there not have been more investigation by a plain clothes foot patrol?

Could this raid not have taken place during daylight hours and in a
calmer way that would avoid the anxiety that was exacerbated by the
late hour and the rough treatment?

RCMP practices certainly need to be investigated and improved. Could
the RCMP "overarching mantra of 'safe homes and safe communities'" not
be better served in other ways rather than expending a large budget
and manpower in the search for cannabis? It's only a plant, with
medicinal properties that have been proven over many centuries of use.

Time to end prohibition and put a stop to the human and financial
costs of a failed drug war. Cannabis has never killed anyone, but this
drug war has caused terror and death while funding criminal activity

Glenda Allard Barr

Lantzville